Australia

AU Home loan king sees brighter future

Property Here - Friday, May 17, 2013

Share to:

JOHN Symond will discuss big dreams and staying focused when he addresses an upcoming industry real estate conference.

House hunters and sellers appear to be rediscovering their mojo after several years of a sluggish post-Global Financial Crisis property market. However, the bounce-back has its drawbacks when it comes to affordability and interest rates.

Major lenders are also seeing light at the end of the post-GFC tunnel and as the seeds of market recovery grow, so will home loan interest rates.

John Symond, founder and chairman of Aussie Home Loans, is confident rates will not stay at historical lows for long.

"I said months ago that the housing market had bottomed, and now we're heading into a slow and gradual recovery,'' he said.

While there are patches of the Australian residential market yet to see recovery, Mr Symond said demand for city-fringe properties remained as strong.

"We're seeing lots of property in that market pulling way more than the reserve prices,'' he said.

Now that buyers are house hunting again, lenders are taking note.

Now is the time for buyers and existing homeowners to do their homework, said Mr Symond, whose current advertising campaign says ``It's smart to ask''.

"The good thing is, people are pretty educated today,'' he said.

When Symond began Aussie Home Loans 21 years ago, brokers were few and far between, but Mr Symond said the financial tables have turned on lenders.

"Before brokers emerged on the landscape, the banking sector was very unfriendly. But now they have learnt that the consumer is king,'' he said.

"The reality is that the statistics show 40 per cent of home loans are done via a broker today. Now brokers are becoming part and parcel of the landscape,'' he said.\

"We helped consumers and the game was up no more gouging,'' he said.

Mr Symond will speak at the Australian Real Estate Conference on the Gold Coast on May 19 and 20.
Guest speakers also include New York agent Shaun Osher and Chris Gardner, the inspiration behind the film The Pursuit of Happyness.